What's on Tap: 5 Stones slips into San Antonio beer scene

Updated 3:53 pm, Friday, September 27, 2013

I've walked into a lot of breweries over the years and pretty much know what to expect.

One thing not on that list is seeing a table piled high with boxes of pineapples and bags of roasted jalapeño peppers, but that was the scene when I went to 5 Stones Brewing in Cibolo this week.

Historically, most new breweries have followed the path of starting with a few base beers that become what they're known for. But a growing minority is throwing caution to the wind and going right to brewing attention-grabbing specialty beers.

5 Stones fits squarely into that latter category, aiming to have four unique releases for each season. Some may repeat from year to year based on customer demand, but many will be one-time creations by owner and brewer Seth Weatherly and his co-brewer, Paul Ford.

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5 Stones just delivered its first pair of beers, Aloha Piña and Norma Jeane, two weeks ago, and both sold out the same day. Soon, its Zero Anniversary Ale, a saison with American hops and honey, will follow, and for the fall, look for a rye beer aged on oak.

The Aloha Piña is a golden ale with pineapple and jalapeños added. The fruit flavor is up front, with the pepper coming in later and lingering as an after-burn. The beer behind the special ingredients mostly stays out of the way but does provide a malt background. I hesitate to characterize how hot it is since not everyone likes the same amount of spice, but I will say it's at a lower level than most pepper beers I've had.

The Zero Anniversary comes across light and dry, as one would expect from most saisons. The fermentation-derived phenols are quite strong, almost to the point of being overly dominant, with peppery and some almost smoky character evident. The presence of the American hops is moderate and slips behind the yeast character.

The as-yet-unnamed fall rye is a substantial beer with rich flavors from specialty malts and rye and some oak in the background. A detailed review is probably not all that useful since the version I tasted isn't the same batch that will be released. With heavily manual brewing processes like those at 5 Stones, there often are significant batch-to-batch variations, but suffice it to say, what I had was quite tasty.

I have not had a chance to taste the Norma Jeane, which is described as a blond ale with strawberries and vanilla.